


Family Doesn't End with Blood

by semifunctionalfangirl



Series: Family Doesn't End with Blood [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-08 03:42:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1127914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/semifunctionalfangirl/pseuds/semifunctionalfangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sam and Dean are hunting werewolves, they are surprised to be rescued by a dark beauty armed with nothing but her piercing green eyes and a bow and arrow. Who knew how quickly and easily she would fit into their lives? Sam/OC, pre-Destiel, and mentions of Charlie/Dorothy. Don't forget our favorite prophet! Rated for the epilogue and language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Damsel in Distress

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of an origin story. There is no real plot besides the development of a relationship. I wrote it to hopefully serve as a basis for other stories in the same series.  
> Enjoy!

"Let's go."

Sam looked up at his brother when a newspaper was thrown on the table in front of him. It was late, and Sam was in the middle of some research for Kevin. "Where are we going?"

"Matthews, Virginia. Sounds like they have a werewolf problem." Dean walked the length of the table. They haven't had a case in nine days and he was going stir crazy. They had been recuperating from a particularly difficult case involving a vengeful child spirit. But now that they were rested and healed, Dean couldn't wait to get back on the road.

Sam frowned slightly at the article. "Dean, this could just as easily be a wild dog or a regular wolf. This article doesn't give us much to go on."

"We've gone on less." Dean pointed out. He put his hands on the table. "C'mon, Sammy! I'm going crazy here."

"That's not a big jump from normal." Kevin said as he walked into the room with a coffee mug clutched in his hand. Sam chuckled while Dean managed to look affronted.

"Don't you have tablets to read or something?" Dean asked him.

"Don't you have angels to flirt with?" Kevin shot back.

Dean sputtered for something to say but in the end, shook his head and turned back to a chuckling Sam.

"We could at least check it out."

Sam huffed but closed his laptop. "Okay, let's go."

With the kitchen stocked for their live-in prophet, Sam and Dean headed out towards Virginia.

It took them a day and a half of non-stop driving before arriving in a small, run down town. It was midday and people were milling about. Dean pulled the car over on a side street and the two brothers prepared themselves for an afternoon of impersonating federal officers. Today they were Agents Barton and Romanoff of the FBI.

Their first stop was the coroner, and while he was sure it was a wild dog, he did mention that it had to have been an abnormally large one. The only thing uncharacteristic of the attack was that the heart was missing from the body.

The Sherriff deputy informed the pair that the last two bodies were found in a warehouse just up the road.

"Is that where the killings took place?" Sam asked him.

"We don't believe so. There were no signs of it. In fact, it looked like the bodies were dragged into the warehouse." He looked skeptical for a moment. "Why is the FBI looking into a wild dog case anyway?"

Dean smiled at the deputy. "That's classified. Is it true that these attacks started a few towns over?"

The deputy nodded, slightly reluctant. "Yes."

"Have there been an increase of mugging reports?" Sam asked.

The deputy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "How could you possibly know…"

"Well thank you for your time." Dean cut him off.

He walked away with a promise to call them with any updates.

"What are you thinking?" Sam asked.

"They're turning people, and the new ones can't control themselves. We should go check out this warehouse tonight and see what we find." Dean told him as they headed back to the impala. "Right now, I'm starving."

Sam and Dean stopped at a diner for lunch before heading to a motel at the center of town. Once inside the room, Sam whipped out his trusty laptop and got to work on some research while Dean crashed on the bed.

"I'm gonna get an hour or two of shut eye." He told Sam, who merely grunted in response, his fingers going a mile a minute over the keyboard.

When Dean woke, Sam bombarded him with information.

"Christ, Sammy, give a guy a chance to wake up."

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother. "Look, you dragged me out here, and I'm going to do my job."

"Alright, alright." Dean stood from the bed and walked over to the table. "What do you got?"

"Okay so we know the attacks started a few weeks ago here in town, and that there have been reports of attacks in other towns before then. So it looks like the werewolf has either been moving around, or we're dealing with multiple, like you said. I think it's the latter. The MO on the attacks here have been different, cleaner almost. It's like the werewolf know what it's doing is wrong but can't help to give in to the instincts." Sam told him.

"How do you figure?"

"Well, for one, the reports from the other town claim that the bodies were left as unidentifiable mangled remains where they were killed, which was usually an extremely public place, all of them, the hearts gone." Sam wrinkled his nose at the thought. In his research, he learned that a third grade teacher was killed inside the school one night, only to be found by her students the next morning. "You saw the bodies here. Besides the fact that their stomachs were basically ripped out, every other part of them was untouched. And then they were taken to an abandoned ware house where they couldn't be stumbled upon by groups of unsuspecting people."

"So you're saying this thing has a heart." Dean pursed his lips and knew to tread carefully around this particular subject. "You know it doesn't change anything, Sam."

"Don't you think I know that, Dean?" Sam snapped, pushing unwanted memories to the back of his mind. "All I'm saying is that it's a start to finding out who it is."

  
Dean nodded. "Okay, so if the warehouse tonight ends up being a bust, we'll question some town folk tomorrow. It seems like a small enough town that somebody is bound to know."

The two piled into the impala and headed just outside of town. The warehouse loomed ominously on the river that ran around the town and Sam had to hold in a shudder. He wasn't afraid but he couldn't deny that the place was extremely eerie.

Neither brother said anything as Dean opened the trunk and propped up the false bottom with a shot gun. He gently opened a box and took out two silver bullets.

He handed one to Sam, along with a gun, a flashlight and a silver dagger. With the same in his own hands, he closed the trunk and the pair moved towards the building.

They cautiously entered the building and walked through the vast room, guns aimed and ready to fire at a moment's notice. Sam looked around with the flashlight and saw that the warehouse wasn't empty. Boxes upon boxes were stacked high; almost high enough to reach the raised walkway that spanned the width of the room. Sam suddenly felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand. He felt like he was being watched.

"Dean,"

"I know, I feel it too." Dean slowed his already slow pace.

Suddenly, Sam was thrown into a tower of boxes, and they tumbled down on top of him.

"Sammy!" Dean shouted as he ran to his brother. He was grabbed by the throat and slammed against a pillar, claws digging deeply into his neck. Dean saw that is was a woman, and a very attractive one at that, if it weren't for the yellow eyes and bloody fangs. She was a black woman with a short bob haircut who couldn't have been any taller than five foot six. Yet she was still able to hoist his six-foot-one frame high enough that he could barely graze the floor with the toe of his boot.

She looked up at him, almost as if she was studying his face.

Dean couldn't reach the knife at his belt, and the gun was knocked away from him when she grabbed him.

"Sam!" He managed to croak out when he saw the boxes moving. The werewolf snarled.

Right before its claws ripped Dean's stomach out, he heard something whizzing through the air and felt a small sharp pain in his hip. He looked down and saw a silver arrow tip sticking up out of the werewolf's chest and barely piercing his own skin. The werewolf looked down in shock and Dean swore he saw a wave a relief in her eyes. The grip on Dean's neck slackened and he fell down the pillar, landing in a heap. He saw the werewolf fall forwards, no longer moving. Upon her death, her features turned back to her regular human look.

Dean got to his feet and attended to his brother before he looked for their savior. He dug Sam out of the mountain of boxes and helped him to his feet. After seeing that he was still freakishly whole, his eyes snapped to the walkway.

Standing there was a woman with a bow in her hands. She wore tight black jeans and a black turtleneck. Her dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and her emerald green eyes fixed the brothers with a glare that could've stopped Death.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" She growled.

Dean and Sam were completely caught off guard. This woman just saved their hides with a bow and arrow and now she was yelling at them.

"We could ask you the same." Dean said defiantly. He didn't take well to being the damsel in distress.

She pulled her bow off of her back and aimed another arrow. "I asked you first."

Sam stepped forward with his hands up. "I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean. We were investigating the werewolf attacks and they led us here."  
Her steady hands faltered slightly. "How did you know about the werewolf?"

"Dean and I are hunters, too."

"And what does that mean to me?"

He looked at Dean in confusion. "We hunt things like werewolves, vampires, and ghosts for a living. How did you know about the werewolf if you're not a hunter?"

She finally dropped her bow and climbed down to the ground floor. She walked past the men and knelt down beside the dead woman. With a heart wrenching sob, she tore the arrow free from her back and placed it on the floor next to her body.

Dean and Sam looked on, once again confused by this mystery woman.

She stood with a quick swipe at her face and turned to the brothers. "My name is Maria and this," She gestured to the woman. "This is Amber, my best friend."  
Sam and Dean knew all too well the pain of having to kill loved one turned monster. They didn't know this woman but couldn't help but to feel sorry for her. Sam felt a pang in his chest.

Sam looked around the room and saw a tarp lying in the corner. He walked over, picked it up, and headed back to the group. He cautiously approached Maria and Amber with a question on the tip of his tongue. She nodded her assent with a raised eyebrow.

With her approval, he gently wrapped Amber up in the tarp and lifted her, before heading outside by the edge of the river. Dean and Maria followed silently behind.

Dean pulled crates together to form a type of altar, which Sam gingerly placed Amber. Maria stood off to the side with a questioning look on her face. "What are you doing?"

"We don't know the circumstances of the situation." Sam told her. "All we know is that she was your best friend and we'll give her a hunter's burial."

"We burn the remains to ensure they won't come back as vengeful spirits." Dean explained. "Sometimes, that can be harder to see." He thought of Bobby but quickly shook his head.

Maria had silent tears streaming down her face and Sam wrapped a long arm around her as Dean lit the pyre. They watched as Amber's body went up in flames, lighting up the nighttime sky and the surrounding forest.

Afterwards, Maria turned towards them. "Thank you, for this. I can explain everything to you if you both want to come back to my apartment."

They both nodded and followed her in her car to an apartment complex a mile up the road.

She had them sit on her couch and she went and fetched them beers from the fridge. Before she sat, she made herself a vodka tonic.

"I needed something stronger than beer." She explained after the first burning sip hit her belly. She welcomed the pain before setting the glass on the table. "I was the one always interested in folk lore." She began. "Mythical creatures, magical lands… Amber used to laugh at me, kiss my cheek and told me she loved me despite how nerdy I was." She laughed bitterly. "We've known each other for twelve years. She was like my sister." Maria took another drink. "I used to be on the force up until six-months ago so naturally, when all of the killings started in the neighboring towns, I was curious. I got a few of my old colleagues to slip me some information but nothing made sense. They thought it was a wild dog or a wolf but wolves don't specifically target the heart. So I started looking into lore and came across werewolves."

"So you figured it out before the attacks even started here?" Sam asked her.

"Actually, just after the first one." Maria clarified. "I put my research on hold after Amber was attacked. The hospital thought she had just been mugged, and so did we, at least for a while."

"So the first killing wasn't Amber. It was the wolf that turned her." Dean said and Maria nodded.

"Then Amber started disappearing in the middle of the night, and she would come back in the morning with blood all over her clothes. She was terrified because she couldn't remember anything." She stopped the slow ebb of tears when she downed the rest of her drink. With a sharp intake of breath, she continued. "I had already told her my theory and she got it into her head that it had been her along. Of course I told her she was being ridiculous. We didn't even have any proof that she was a werewolf. That night, against my better judgment, I tied her up and we waited together. Sure enough, around midnight, claws broke through her finger tips and her teeth grew. She broke free and ran off. Another body was found that night."

"Amber was distraught because it was her hurting all of these people. She asked me to…" She choked up.

"To kill her." Sam finished for her, thinking back to a similar situation with a woman named Monica.

Maria nodded. "She didn't want to be shot by a gun. She knew too many people who fell that way. She wanted me to shoot her with a silver arrow, straight through the heart. Thought it would be some form of closure for me." She shook her head. "It was a load of shit to try and make me feel better about the fact that I had to kill the only person I had left in this entire world."

"So were you always so good with the bow?" Dean asked.

Maria nodded. "I've been shooting since I was twelve. I took a weird fascination with it and have ever since. She knew I wouldn't miss. And she wanted it to be me instead of some random cop."

"What about the other wolves?" Dean asked.

"They tried to recruit Amber. Of course she said no, but she had their names and faces. They are no longer an issue." Maria said darkly. She would never feel remorse for killing those bastards.

Dean nodded. "I'm sorry for you loss, but we aren't needed here anymore. It looks like you have things well in hand." He stood and Sam followed, albeit reluctantly.

She looked panicked for a second before she composed herself. "You're leaving? Now?"

Sam shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly. He couldn't explain it but he didn't want to leave her.

To the silence, she stood too. "Look, I don't know you guys. I mean for all I know you guys could be serial killers with a weird fetish for the supernatural. But I have nothing left in this town. My parents both died of cancer when I was fifteen and I was brought up my grandparents, who died eight years ago. I only had two friends … I'm drowning here and the only thing that was saving me from going under was Amber. I need a new start, something different. You guys can give me that."

Dean looked at Sam. "Look, Maria, you can't come with us. This, what we do, it's not the best life."

"I know. I can't imagine it would be. But you could teach me." Maria insisted. "Please, I want to prevent anything like what happened to me to anybody else."

"Dean, a minute." Sam gestured to his brother and the two stepped away.

"I know what you're going to say, Sammy and the answer is no." Dean told him straight out.

"Look, she seems like to type who's going to do it anyway. She saved our lives…the least we could do is train her so she doesn't die on her first case." Sam said.

"You're right, I am going to do it regardless of if I have your help or not." Maria interjected. "You really need to work on your whispering skills."

Dean sighed in defeat. "Fine. We'll train you how to be a hunter. And just so the both of you know, this goes against ever fiber in my being." He looked pointedly at them both before leaving the room.

Sam tried to hide the triumphant smile on his face but failed miserably. "Do you have a pen and paper?" Maria rummaged around in the end table and produced the materials. He thanked her and wrote down the address of the Men of Letters bunker. "Here, once you get everything settled here, go to this address. It'll take you about a day and a half to get there if you don't stop. If you're ready to go by tomorrow morning, call this number and you can just follow us back."

Maria smiled at him before bringing him down for a hug. "Thank you so much for this." She whispered into his shoulder.

Dean walked back into the room with a knife and a small bottle. "If you want to come with us, there are a few things we require. Drink this." He handed over the bottle and she drank it with no protest. "Well we know you're not a demon. Hold out your hand." She did as she was told, but warily. Dean took it and as gently as he could muster, slit her arm with the silver knife. She winced slightly and Dean quickly wrapped it up in a piece of fabric.

He nodded in approval. "Sorry about that. Standard procedure. Look, there is one more thing you have to do before you can come with us…" He rattled off an explanation and Maria was surprised at the odd request but informed him that she would do it.

He left again and headed to the car to wait for Sam.

"It'll all be okay." Sam never liked saying that because in his experience, it was never okay. But in this case, he had a distinct feeling that everything may just turn out fine.

She kissed his cheek. "I'll probably not have everything settled by the morning," She wrote her number down and handed it to him. "But if you don't hear from me, give me a call."

"I'll see you soon." Sam said with a slight blush as he backed out of the house. Maria waved in response with a sad smile.

"You're pathetic." Dean said when Sam finally got into the impala. "You always were a sucker for a dangerous and pretty face."

Sam shoved him. "Shut up jerk."

"Bitch."

The next morning while the brothers were packing up to leave, Sam pulled out his phone and noticed that Maria had yet to call. He walked a short distance away and called her.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Maria? It's Sam, from uh, last night."

"I know who it is." He could hear her smile through the phone. "Good morning, Sam."

"Good morning. I hadn't heard from you so I figured I'd call." He drummed his fingers on the fence in front of him.

"I know, I'm sorry. I've been getting everything in order." He heard rustling. "I'm probably going to get on the road in a few hours. So I won't be too far behind you."

"That's great. If you get lost or need help, just call me."

"I will." She promised. "I'll call you when I'm about an hour out."

"Okay. I'll wait up for you. You know, so that I can unlock the door. Because you wouldn't be able to get in…" Sam rambled. "Sammy! Time to roll!" He heard Dean yell and he sighed in relief. "Look, I have to go but call me later okay?"

"Don't worry, Sam. I'll see you soon." She hung up. He refrained from hitting himself. He was thirty years old for god's sake. He'd been to hell! Why was he so flustered talking to a girl he met the day before?

On the other end, Maria set her phone down on top of a box and pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn't know what it was about Sam that she found so endearing. Of course it was his height, and his voice, and how flustered he got whenever he talked to her and his smile and… who was she kidding? Sam Winchester was the epitome of endearing.

She couldn't believe she talked them into letting her go with them. She could be driving to nowhere for all she knows. But somehow, she didn't think Sam would do that to her. She rubbed absentmindedly at her wrist, where a new tattoo lay, raw and bleeding. It was the only other stipulation from the brothers before she could go with them. Apparently the odd pentagram would keep demons from possessing her. So she drove to the only tattoo parlor in town that was, thankfully, opened until midnight, and got it done.

It wasn't her first tattoo. The first she had gotten with Amber when they vacationed in California, after their graduation from college.

Amber was basically all Maria had after that bastard had cheated on her with his secretary. She planned on going down to the station to say goodbye to her only other friend and prayed that she wouldn't see him.

Most of her apartment was packed up and she planned on leaving everything in a storage unit while she was gone. She was bringing all of her clothes (and few personal items) but, most of her possessions were being left behind, including all of her furniture for the next family. She knew it was the best option. She couldn't imagine that this new life that she was starting had much room for material possessions.

A hunter. Never in her wildest dreams would she have believed that the things that she's read about her entire life were real. And that there were people out there, like Sam and Dean, who killed them and have probably saved countless numbers of lives. The real question was could she do it? Could she kill the creatures that she has romanticized for 20 years?

She shook her head clear. She had to get this packing done. The only thing left was her beloved bookshelf. She grabbed her most cherished books and added them to the pile of things she was taking with her, while the rest went into a box.

It took an hour to load the boxes into her SUV, and another hour to unload them into a storage unit. She headed back to her apartment for the last time and grabbed her remaining things. She looked around mournfully. Lots of memories, both good and bad, played through her mind. She shut the door, and bit back tears.

Her next stop was Amber's apartment. Her friend at the station had called her that morning telling her that Amber was missing. She told him that she had left the country indefinitely and it very nearly killed her.

She used her key to unlock the door, stepped inside and this time, she couldn't hold back the tears. The overwhelming guilt was licking at her insides like flames.

She killed her best friend.

She stepped over to the closet and pulled out a box. Amber had given her instructions to only take this box after she passed.

"I love you, Am. I'm so sorry." She whispered to the emptiness of the apartment.

She drove to the station and braced herself. Luckily her friend was at the front desk. He came around and gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm sorry Amber just up and left." He told her.

"Thanks, Joey. It was the best thing for her." She bit the inside of her cheek. "I'm leaving too, Joe." He pulled her back and held her at arm's length.

"Why?"

"I don't have anything left in this town. Besides you, of course." She added quickly seeing the hurt look on his face. "Ever since the divorce…"  
His face darkened. "Maria, it wasn't your fault."

She shook her head. "I know that, and you know that. That's all I care about."

"It's not fair. The whole town turned on you even though it was him…"

"Maria," Came a surprised voice. "What are you doing here?"

She inwardly cringed and Joey quickly let go of her.

"Hello, Matthew." She turned to her ex-husband, the Sheriff of their small town.

"It's nice to see you."

"I wish I could say the same." She said with a smile. She turned back to Joe. "I'll keep in touch."

"Wait, you're leaving town?" Matthew asked. Maria turned on her heel to walk out of the door. He followed her. "Maria, wait, talk to me."

"Why should I? You haven't spared me a phone call in the past six months." She turned on him.

"You told me never to speak to you again!" He said hotly.

"Matt, you cheated on me with a woman ten years my junior. And when I filed for divorce, the whole town turned on me without knowing the whole story. I can't stay here anymore." Maria said.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen." He had the decency to look ashamed.

Maria sighed. "Matt, I'll never stop loving you. But what you did was unforgivable. I still don't understand why you did it. I don't understand what I…Nevermind." She didn't mean to show so much weakness in front of him.

"It was never anything you did. It was because I was a stupid selfish bastard." Matt told her.

"Well, in any regard, I'm leaving. I wish you the best." She said with sincerity.

He looked almost sad when he wished her the same. He watched her until she pulled out of the parking lot before heading back inside the station.

She would miss him but she was glad she was able to get some closure with him before she left. They didn't have a bad marriage. In fact, she loved the time that she was married to him. They had the most fun together. Up until he cheated on her.

But that was now in the past. She was driving out of the only town she's ever truly called home and while she was sad, she knew a greater journey awaited her.


	2. New Addition

Sam and Dean arrived in Kansas the next day and pulled the impala into the bunker's garage.

Kevin was seated at the table, three large books open in front of him. Sam dropped his bag in his room and joined him, pulling one of the books towards him.

"What do you have going on?"

"Well, I managed to translate a few things but into another ancient language. Now I'm trying to figure out how to translate that language." He sighed in frustration. Sam felt bad for the kid. He had so much pressure on his shoulders and anything Sam could do to help alleviate some, he would do.

"Okay so tell me what you've read so far. I'll start another book."

"The one you have in front of you is a good place to start." Kevin said with a slightly relieved smile.

The two got to work and worked up until Dean put burgers under their noses. A good six hours had passed.

"Okay book worms, break time." They marked their places but closed the book gratefully.

"Let's call it a day for now, Kev. We can pick up again tomorrow." Sam said.

"That's what I like to hear!" Dean took a bite of his burger.

"And you'll be helping tomorrow, Dean." Sam said and laughed when Dean's face fell.

Suddenly, Sam's phone rang and he hurried to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Sam. It's Maria."

"Hi, Maria!"

Kevin looked questionably at Dean. "It's Sam's new girlfriend." He explained.

"You guys were gone for three days."

Sam shot the two a glare before returning to his conversation. "I'm sorry, Maria. What did you say?"

"I'm about an hour away from the address." She told him. "I would've been there sooner but I stopped and slept for a few hours. I only left about three hours after you."

"No worries. We are just now eating some dinner. Would you like me to save you anything?"

"That's really sweet but no thank you. I stopped a little bit ago and got something to eat." She said.

"Okay. Let me know when you get here and I'll direct you to the garage." He hung up with her.

"Care to explain?" Kevin asked the brothers. Sam told him the entire story, from when they arrived in Mathews to when they left Maria's apartment.

"So let me get this straight. You are just allowing a stranger to come here because she begged you to become a hunter?" Kevin asked.

"And because Sammy likes her." Dean said childishly.

"Is she insane?" Kevin asked loudly.

"We haven't figured that out quite yet." Sam closed his eyes in exasperation. "But it's not exactly fair of us to judge when we're pretty insane ourselves."

"Okay, I'll give you that." Dean said. "But come on, Sam. Why is she so interested in becoming a hunter?"

As if on que, Sam's phone rang again.

"I arrived sooner than I thought." She said when he answered. "I'm outside of a large metal door. Am I in the right place?"

"Yes, I'll be right up." He shot a look to Dean and Kevin, pleading them to behave before he headed upstairs.

He opened the door to reveal Maria with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder and a single box in her hand.

"Is that all you brought?"

"No, my car is packed but I'm much too tired to unpack it now." She smiled up at him.

"Do you um… can I take anything for you?" Sam asked, floundering.

She looked down at the box in her hand and instead decided to hand him her bag. "Thanks, Sam."

She followed him down into the bunker and she marveled at how beautiful and large the place was.  
"This is where you live?"

"Yeah, this is it." He led her to the table where Kevin and Dean still sat.

"Hello, Dean. It's good to see you again." She said kindly.

"Hi, Maria." He handed her a bottle and with merely an eye-roll, swallowed the holy water.

"I did everything you asked me to do." She moved the bandage to show them her tattoo.

"Sorry you had to do that." Sam said.

"It's okay. I know you guys just want to keep yourselves safe."

Kevin cleared his throat. "Oh, Maria, this is Kevin. He's kind of like our…"

"I'm their little brother." Kevin finished.

Maria laughed. "It's nice to meet you Kevin."

"Come on, I'll show you to your room." Sam led her out of the room.

Kevin turned to Dean. "She's hot!"

"Keep it in your pants." Dean said. "She's all smitten for Sammy anyway. I don't think she likes munchkins."

"Oh that must be why she's not into you." Dean stood and Kevin scurried away with a squeak. Dean laughed.

"Coward!"

Sam opened one of the many doors in the hallway that held the bedrooms. "Here's your room. Make yourself at home. You're welcome to stay for as long as you'd like. I'm sure you're exhausted so I'll leave you to it. I'm right next door if you need me. Not that you will but…just so you know."

Maria couldn't help it. She reached up and gently pressed her lips to his. "Thank you, Sam. Goodnight."

"Oh, um, goodnight." He backed out of the door, a stunned look on his face. She couldn't help but giggle before she shut the door. She really did like him and she thought it was adorable the way he was nervous around her. A small part of her brain yelled at her and she immediately felt a little foolish. She just kissed a man she's known for less than two days. When did she become so bold?

Her eyes fell to the box lying on her bed. Could she open it tonight? Upon further thought, she didn't think she had the willpower to do it. So she placed it on the desk in the room and unpacked her small bag.

The next morning, Maria was up before anyone else. She found her way to the kitchen and decided to make everyone breakfast as a way to thank them.

She was looking through the fridge when a throat cleared from behind her. She jumped, startled and fixed Sam with a glare when he laughed.

He was dressed in jogging clothes and sneakers and Maria's jaw dropped ever so slightly.

"Sorry I scared you." Sam said. "I'm about to go for a run. What're you doing?"

She blushed. "I figured I would make everybody breakfast. Since I basically blackmailed you guys into taking me under your wings."

Sam approached her. "You didn't blackmail us. We wanted to do it. Well, I wanted to. I'm sorry I've been such a goof. I'm not usually such a nervous ass. I don't know what it is about you that makes me feel like that." He tucked a strand of her hair that had fallen loose of her pony tail behind her ear. His hand lingered on her cheek and tilted her head up to meet him in a kiss. She snaked her arms behind his head and pulled his body closer to hers.

Both of them had flushed cheeks when they finally pulled away.

"Well look who's not quite so nervous anymore." Maria said breathlessly.

"I'm going for a run but I'll be back soon." He kissed her again, but it was shorter.

She waved after him and felt like she was glued to the spot. She didn't know what it was, but there was about them just clicked.

She finally got moving again and took out the ingredients for breakfast sandwiches. By the time Dean shuffled down to the kitchen, there was a large, greasy bacon, egg and cheese sandwich waiting for him. Maria placed it down along with a mug of coffee.

"I wasn't sure how you like your coffee." She admitted.

"You're a god send." Dean said before taking a drink of his coffee, black. He took a bite of the sandwich and groaned in pleasure. "This is heavenly." Maria laughed and got to work making Kevin's sandwich and Sam's veggie omelet. She hoped that it was what he wanted when he got back from his run.

"It smells so good in here." Kevin said as he sat down. Maria handed him his sandwich and received the same response. "Dean, can we keep her?"

"She's not going anywhere." Sam walked back into the kitchen, glistening sweat. He placed a kiss on her lips. Dean and Kevin exchanged a look.

"I made you a veggie omelet." Maria said, almost shyly.

"It looks delicious. Thanks." He sat next to his brother, who scooted away,

"Dude, you reek. Can't you go take a shower first? I'm surprise Maria didn't pass out from your stench."

"Oh Dean, do you want to hug it out and talk about it?" Sam opened his arms invitingly.

"I swear to god, if you touch me, I'm stabbing you in the face." Dean threatened. Sam laughed and continued eating his omelet.

Dean moved his coffee mug slightly between Maria and Sam before taking a drink. "So, that was quick."

Maria blushed slightly and Sam rolled his eyes. "What's your point?"

But whatever the point was, it was lost when the door to the bunker opened revealing a man with sparkling blue eyes and untidy hair.

"Cas!" Dean jumped up and greeted his friend with a hug.

"Hello, Dean."

Dean held him at arm's length. "It's good to see you buddy. Where the hell have you been?"

"Helping out at churches mostly." He responded. "Many people need help in the world, Dean."

Sam approached the pair and gave Cas a hug. "Good to see you."

Castiel wrinkled his nose. "Sam, you stink."

Dean threw his head back in laughter and even Sam couldn't contain the grin.

Kevin said his hellos before Cas' eyes drifted to Maria.

"Oh, Cas, this is Maria. The newest addition to the family." Sam said with a smile.

Maria approached him and put her hand out. "It's nice to meet you."

He shook her hand. "Likewise. Welcome."

"Would you like some breakfast? The stove is still hot." Maria asked.

"Oh yes, please." He took a seat on the other side of Dean's chair. Maria sat a coffee mug in front of him and he drank it gladly.

"I'm going to take a shower." Sam told the group before leaving.

"Thank god." Dean muttered before returning to his conversation with Cas.

While the bacon was cooking, Maria leaned over to Kevin. "So tell me, is there something going on there?" She whispered with a gesture to the pair.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows except for them."

"Ah," Maria said simply before going back to the stove. A few minutes later she placed the sandwich in front of Castiel. When he took a bite, his eyes closed. "This is by far the best sandwich I have ever had."

Maria began to clean up with a large smile on her face. She could get used to living with this crazy group.

By the time Sam was done showering, Maria had finished cleaning the kitchen and was chatting amicably with Kevin.

"So I figured we could unpack your car, and then start getting you caught up on what's really out there." Sam told her.

"I'll help." Kevin jumped up and followed Sam and Maria to her truck, Dean and Cas directly behind him.

They all piled in and Sam directed her to the entrance to the garage. The men each grabbed a box and followed Maria down to her room. They set them by the wall and she thanked them.

"We're going to have to liven up your room." Dean said looking around. "Especially if you're going to be staying." Maria smiled exuberantly at him. She knew that he was hesitant to bring her along and it felt amazing that he actually wanted her around.

"It was the breakfast wasn't it?" She asked jokingly.

He shrugged and winked at her, before heading to his room to shower and change.

Castiel and Kevin both left the room as well and Maria felt an undeniable sense of nervousness. She hated it. She turned on Sam.

"Look, I am not a blushing virgin. I'm not shy and I don't get nervous around men. So quit whatever you're doing to make me feel all jumpy around you." She didn't appreciate that this got a hearty laugh from him.

"I'm sorry! I don't think it's anything I can help." He managed to wheeze out.

"God dammit!" Maria blurted out, and then immediately covered her treacherous mouth. Sam stopped laughing and stared at her. "Shit." She mumbled into her palm. "I was doing so well."

Sam doubled over in laughter. With tears coming from his eyes, he said, "Who would've thought, that my girlfriend curses like a sailor."

"Woah there, soldier." Maria resisted the urge to slap the laughter out of him. "Girlfriend?"

His laughter finally died away and he swiped at his eyes. "Well, yeah. I mean we can take it slow since we just met but…"

"Well, first of all, I don't believe I was asked to be anyone's girlfriend." She folded her arms and stared at him defiantly.

He approached her and ran his large hands down her arms, making her unwillingly unfold them. He wrapped them around his neck. "Maria…" He looked contemplatively for a moment.

She snatched her arms back. "You don't even know my last name! The moment has been ruined." She said playfully, turning her back to him.

He sidled up to her and wrapped his long arms around her waist. He placed a gentle kiss below her ear. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Sam Winchester."

"This is quite a way to introduce yourself, Mr. Winchester." She couldn't help the tremor that ripped through her body and she felt Sam smile against her neck. "My name is Maria Russi."

"Italian?" He asked, trailing kisses down her neck.

"Mhmm." She turned her head and captured his lips in a kiss.

"Well, Ms. Maria Russi, will you be my girlfriend?"

"I suppose I can fit you into my schedule." She grinned at him. He turned her body to pull her in for a proper kiss.

Her hands ran through his long hair while he had one hand on the small of her back and the other running down her side before resting on her hip. He slowly pushed them until the bed hit the back of her knees. As he laid them down on the bed, they never broke the kiss. Sam propped himself on his elbows so that he didn't crush her but Maria was having none of that. She pulled him on top of her and reveled in warmth and weight of his body.

His fingers played at her hips, where her t-shirt was riding up to reveal her tan stomach. She sneaked her hands under the back of his shirt and ran them up and down his back, feeling his distinct back muscles ripple.

"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door?" Sam heard Dean say in disgust before walking away. Sam broke the kiss and groaned. He rested his head in the crook of her neck to catch his breath and she played with his hair, laughing gently.

"He has great timing, doesn't he?" She said.

Sam snorted. "I guess it's fair. Judging by the amount of times I've done it to him." His words were muffled. With a small kiss to her neck, he got off of Maria and sat at the edge of the bed. She crawled behind him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Come on, you promised we were going to learn today." She said excitedly before bouncing off of the bed and out of the room.

He chuckled, and willed his traitorous appendage to stand down. He didn't have time for a cold shower. The woman of his dreams was excited for research and he couldn't be happier.

Maria was nowhere to be found when Sam left her room.

"Where's Maria?" She asked Dean.

"She ran off to the garage. What did you scare her off already?" He teased.

Before he could throw an insult back, Maria came bounding in with a sleek black case in her hands. "I completely forgot that I left my bow in my car."

Dean clapped his hands once. "Awesome. I want to see how good you think you are."

"If I remember correctly, and I do, I saved your ass a few days ago with how good I think I am."

"Touché." He waved his arm. "C'mon, I'll show you the range."

Maria, Sam, and Castiel followed Dean to the large underground shooting range that took up an entire floor of the bunker.

"Does this place have everything?" Maria asked in awe.

"So far as I can tell." Dean said, leading them over to the far wall. There, they found an archery range with the capability to shoot at 200 feet. "Alright, Katniss, let's see what you can do."

Kevin looked perturbed about the nickname but said nothing.

Maria placed her case on the ground and clicked it open. She ran her fingers across the length of her bow, re-familiarizing herself with her beloved weapon. She took it out, tested the pull, and grinned.

"Let's start easy, shall we?" Dean said with a teasing smile. Using the automated target, he set it for fifty feet.

Maria rolled her eyes. She pulled an arrow out and placed it in the bow. As she put it up, her finger resting loosely on her cheek, she pulled back with the arrow. In hale, exhale, inhale, and as she exhaled, she let the arrow fly. It embedded itself into the center of the target…a perfect shot.

Dean whistled as he pulled the arrow free. "Very nice. What's your range?"

"I've never tried more than 150 feet." Maria said.

"How long have you been shooting?" Kevin asked her.

"Eighteen years now. My father bought me my first bow when I was twelve. I never had a teacher. I just practiced every day after school. In high school, I started competing in tournaments. My parents had all of them in a shelf in their house. I think they were all put in a storage unit when they passed away." She unsheathed another arrow and loosely held it in the bow. "Come on, Dean. I thought we were seeing how good I think I am."

Dean smirked and moved the target back to 150 feet. Maria repeated her same process before she let go. The arrow hit its mark again. Before anyone could react, another arrow was flying through the air and split the already embedded arrow in half.

She received a round of applause and she curtsied.

"Damn, woman." Dean said. "Now you're just showing off."

"Yes, I was." She said with no hint of remorse. "Mainly I just wanted to prove that my dick is bigger than yours. Isn't that what you guys do?"

Dean sputtered and looked back and forth from her and Sam, the latter currently bent over and wheezing from laughter.

"Oh I'm sorry. Did I offend you with my language?" She asked innocently.

"Well, I didn't think a lady had the audacity to talk like that." Dean said.

Maria aimed an arrow loosely at Dean's crotch and grinned. "Who said I was a lady?"

Dean paled. "Sammy, a little help here?" Sam was of no use at all to his brother, as he had fallen to his knees with tears coming down from his eyes. His laughter was practically silent.

Maria threw her head back and laughed. It was an almost musical sound. She pulled the weapon to her side and patted Dean's cheek. "Don't assume that I'm afraid to go toe-toe with you, Dean. I can give you a run for your money."

"I'd like to see you try." He narrowed his eyes.

She hit the controls and the target moved back to 200 feet. She had never shot that far but she was an expert marksman. The conditions were controlled so all she had to worry about was the strength of her pull and the angle at which she shot.

It took her a second longer for preparation, but as she let the arrow go, she smiled in satisfaction, confident it would be another perfect shot. Sure enough, it landed inside of the bull's-eye.

She winked at Dean and turned to put her bow away. She looked over at Sam and saw that he had finally straightened out. The grin on his face was blinding, but she blushed when she saw the pure lust in his eyes.

Maria heard Castiel whisper to Sam, "Is that considered flirting with Dean?" This managed to send Sam back into fits of laughter.

When she was finished, she picked up the case. "Well, now that I have some tension relieved, what do you say we go do some research?"

"Well that's my cue." Dean shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Dean," Sam said, slightly breathless. "We need to tell her our story."

"Tell her to read the books." He snapped, his pride quickly ebbing away.

Maria kissed his cheek. "Cheer up, Dean."

"You know what, Maria, you have no idea what you just started." Dean said and she giggled.

"I look forward to it."

He huffed and moved past the group. "Come on, then."

They followed him back up the stairs, Sam and Maria following behind slowly.

Sam intertwined his fingers with Maria. "I don't know which is sexier," He said. "You being so capable with a bow and arrow, or that you can so effectively shut my brother up. He may have met his match."

She squeezed his hand. "He's a bit fun to tease. But using sexy and your brother in the same sentence sounded extremely odd coming from your mouth."

Sam looked disgusted. "Why would you need to bring something like that up?"

"Well, I'm not saying your brother isn't sexy." She teased.

His A-plus bitch face had Maria explode into laughter.


	3. Truth

They had reached the main floor and entered the library area. Dean had escaped to the kitchen but Castiel and Kevin sat at the table. Sam and Maria sat opposite them.

"Wait, what books were Dean talking about?" Maria asked suddenly.

Sam let his head fall to the table with a 'thunk' and groaned into the dark wood.

"These damn books keep haunting us."

"Charlie has copies in her room." Kevin said unhelpfully. "Even the ones Becky published online set from after Dean was pulled from hell. It ends after the leviathans rise."

"There are more?!"

"Dean was pulled from hell?"

"Oh dammit." Dean walked back into the room with a candy bar in his hand.

Sam raised an accusatory finger at him. "This is your fault. You had to bring it up."

"In fairness, Sam," Castiel interjected. "It would be the quickest way to tell your story. Chuck did in fact write accurate information. I was unaware of the new books but am I correct to assume that I am mentioned?"

Kevin nodded. "Oh yeah. And boy there are a lot of fanfictions about…" Sam slapped a gargantuan hand over his mouth.

"I know where this conversation is going and it will do nothing but confuse Cas and disgust me. So drop it."

"Who's Charlie?" Maria asked. She was extremely curious about these books and she couldn't wait to ask this Charlie if she could borrow his books.

"Charlie is the last member of our little family." Sam said. "And hopefully will be back soon."

"Do you think I'd be able to borrow the books?" Maria asked.

Kevin shrugged. "Charlie told me that I could read them and I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue if I let you. Just as long as they're kept in the same shape. I don't want to die."

Maria smiled at him warmly. "Oh you won't have to worry about that. Reading is practically a religion to me. The only damage my books have is to their spine because I read them over and over again. Thanks, Kevin. And I'll be sure to thank Charlie too."

Kevin left the table and returned with a book. "Here's the first one. There are a lot of them but they aren't too long. It took me a few days to read them, and I was working on my own project as well."

Maria looked at the cover and attempted to stifle her laughter. Sam groaned in embarrassment at the shirtless men on the cover.

"Okay so can someone explain to me how there are books written about your lives?"

"There was this prophet, Chuck, who wrote all of them. He claimed that the stories were coming to him from voices in his head before Sam and Dean met him." Kevin told her, realizing that the brothers were going to be extremely useless with this topic.

"A prophet?"

"Yeah, a prophet. You know, a person who can hear the word of God?"

"I know was a prophet is. I was brought up Catholic." Maria told him. "But I've never even heard of a prophet in this century." She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well, you're looking at one." Kevin said. He'd come a long way from the AP student almost two years ago.

"So you're telling me that you're a prophet of the Lord?" Maria asked. "Next you're going to tell me that there are Angels living on earth."

The men all looked uncomfortably at each other. "What?" Maria asked. "Are there?"

"I am an Angel of the Lord." Castiel told her. "Well, I used to be. All of the angels have fallen from Heaven."

"And I'm interpreting God's word to see if we have a way to put the bastards back." Kevin said.

Maria was more confused than ever. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is a lot of information for me to process. Like for example, did you just call angels bastards?"

"Most of them are." Castiel said, his voice deeper than usual. "And they are still hunting me."

"Cas here is on the Most Wanted List upstairs." Dean explained. "He rebelled from his family to help us humans here on earth stop the apocalypse."

"The apocalypse?" She whispered.

Sam took pity on her. "I know that this isn't what you were expecting when you wanted us to train you to be a hunter but there are a lot more monsters out there than you have ever read about. Angels included. They aren't the cherub, sweet innocent things they are made out to be. My reluctant suggestion would be to read the books. It'll explain everything probably better than we could. You'll be able to grasp some of the creatures and when we discuss angels, it won't be much of a shock."

"And the angels and the apocalypse are explained in the books too." Kevin said. "We're all here to help."

"It's important to keep an open mind around here." Dean told her.

"An open mind is not the problem." Maria snapped. "I just need a few minutes to process the information. Up until a week ago, I had no idea these things existed! I've read about them, wrote about them, drew them, but never in my dreams would I have imagined that they were alive."

"Where do you think the legends come from?" Dean leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "The lore, the fantasy, it all has an origin. There was something that had to start it, something that people talked about. The legends didn't just come from the imagination of people."

Maria nodded. It sounded logical. "You're right. I've never thought about it in that way."

"D'ya hear that, Sammy? She said I was right." Dean smiled and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Okay. So tell me more about the angels." Maria said. The group decided to tell her everything after the fall of the leviathans. It was past lunch time when they finished the story with Metatron and the fall of all the angels.

"Holy shit." Maria said when they were done.

"There is nothing holy about shit." Castiel furrowed his brow.

"No, Cas," Dean said laughing. "It's a figure of speech. Although I guess it could work. We can consider the holy bastards some holy shit."

"So you're human?" Maria asked Cas.

"I am human."

"But the other angels, they still have their powers?"

"Yes."

"So why don't you?"

"When Metatron stole my grace, my powers went along with it." Cas explained. "Other angels still retained their grace, which is why we can still kill them with the angel blade."

"I can't believe I'm talking to an angel." Maria ran her fingers through her long hair.

"A fallen angel. I am human now."

"I'm sorry, Castiel. I'm being really insensitive right now." Maria said. She took his hand and squeezed. "I'm sorry you've had to learn how to be a human from that twat." He nodded to Dean, who looked outraged.

"Your face is serious but I sense this is a joke." Castiel said. Maria laughed and patted his hand.

"Yes, Cas. I'm only joking. Dean is very easy to tease."

"Come on." Sam stood. "Let's all go get some lunch. I'll buy."

"If it's all the same to you guys, I think I'm going to stay here." Maria told them. "I need some time to myself I think."

"But you need to eat." Cas said.

"I'll be okay. I'm not hungry right now." She smiled warmly at him.

"If you're sure," Sam kissed her gently. "Would you like us to bring you something back?"

"No, but thank you." She watched the guys leave the bunker and she retreated back to her room.

There was so much information rolling around in her head and she knew that it wasn't going to stop. There was so much more that she needed to learn and she needed to be able to focus her undivided attention to it.

She took the box from her desk and placed it on her bed. "It's time to say goodbye, Amber." She climbed up onto the bed and sat behind the box, her hands shaking as she opened the flaps. A sob caught in her throat. On top of the pile, sat a framed picture of her, Amber, and Joey, the first year they met at college. They looked so young, and so care free. She missed those days. She suddenly felt an overwhelming pang of guilt for leaving Joey behind. They were best friends through college, and then began to drift away when Maria got married. She vowed to keep up the line of communication with him.

She placed the frame to the side and continued to pull out different things that meant so much to their relationship. Amber had given her a book of tickets from all the concert and movies they've been to together, the caricature they got of them when they went to Orlando, and even her most prized possession, her Aubrey Hepburn signed copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's, which Maria had spent months trying to track down. She laughed breathlessly at the memory.

By the time she reached the bottom of the box, her grief was crushing her. Sobs escaped her throat and the tears flowed in steady streams down her face. She left everything where it was and swiped at her eyes. She ran out of the room and down to the weapons range. If anything would calm her down, it'd be embedding every arrow she owned into the target.

She set the target at 150 feet before walking over to where she had left her bow. As she held the bow in her hands, she felt the tension roll off of her shoulders. She slowed down her breathing, took control of her emotions, and shot the arrows, each one taking a piece of her heartbreak with it.

When the guys got back, Sam noticed that Maria wasn't in any of the living areas. He placed her food (that he decided to buy for her despite her protests) on the table.

He started at her room. The door was open and he didn't see her in it. He did, however, see the bed covered in a miscellaneous array of things. He took a tentative step forward and picked up a framed picture of Maria, Amber and some other man. He looked around and realized that all of the things must have belonged to Amber.

"Shit," He said. He knew she was probably having a difficult time dealing with her emotions and would need to let off some steam. He cautiously made his way to the weapons room and heard the unmistakable whistle of an arrow the muffled sound of it making contact with the target.

He didn't want to startle her, knowing that she was probably off in her own mind but he did take a look at her face. It was strangely terrifying and Sam couldn't help but to get a bit turned on by it. He knew this woman was more than capable of protecting herself and that she didn't actually need anyone to take care of her.

"Maria," He said. She didn't acknowledge him and shot another arrow. He noticed that her quiver was empty and it would be safe to approach her. She was looking at the target when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

She spun around and swung her bow until it made contact with his stomach. He doubled over with a grunt of pain.

"Oh my god! Sam, I am so sorry!" She knelt down beside him with a worried look on her face.

"No," He whispered, the air effectively knocked out of his lungs. "I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that."

"I could've shot you!" She exclaimed.

"That's why I waited until you were done." He managed to straighten himself out. "You have a great swing."

She placed her hand on his cheek. "You stupid idiot." She said lovingly. "Don't you know never to sneak up on anyone with a dangerous weapon?" She kissed him.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He said sheepishly. "I saw your room…"

She nodded. "Amber told me before she died that she was making a box for me. I had to come down here to clear my head. It helps me relax. All I have to think about is the arrow and the target."

He helped her remove all of the arrows and put them back into the quiver.

The two made their way back upstairs and Sam led her to the table. "I'm sure you've worked up an appetite by now." She smiled at him gratefully before popping a french fry in her mouth.

"Where did everyone go?" She inquired.

"Kevin went back to his room and I'm not sure where Cas and Dean disappeared to." Sam said as he sat across from her. He opened up his laptop.

Once she was done eating, she took the first Supernatural book and curled up on the couch in the next room. The two sat in amicable silence for a while; Maria read while Sam researched cases.

It was a few hours later, when Sam heard a choked sob and looked up to see Maria walking towards him, unshed tears in her eyes. She slipped onto his lap and hugged him.

"I'm sorry about Jessica." She said quietly.

He ran a nervous hand through his hair. "That was so long ago."

"I don't care if it was fifty years ago." She gently scolded. "Something like that doesn't go away."

He kissed her forehead. "Thank you."

"It's been entirely too quiet for too long." Maria observed, still sitting on Sam's lap.

"I agree. But they're not bothering me and I will revel in the silence while it lasts." He shrugged his shoulders. "Although, I do think I found a case." She stood to give him better access to his laptop and leaned over his shoulder.

"It looks like there is a nest of vampires a couple hundred miles away from here."

"Vampires?" Maria asked excitedly.

"Maria," He began carefully.

She stood back and fixed him with a glare. "Don't you dare, Sam. Don't be that guy."

"Look, I am more than sure that you can take care of yourself. I just don't think you're prepared enough to just go on cases yet."

"Well, how am I ever going to learn if I'm not being taken on cases?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"Finish reading the books. And when we get back, we'll train you in some weapons and how to kill certain creatures. I have to take Dean out on cases or he's more of an ass than usual and trust me, we do not need that. We should only be gone for about a week." Sam said.

"Did I hear something about a case?" Dean asked, bounding into the room.

"Where have you been?"

"I went for a drive." Dean said vaguely. "I needed to clear my head."

"And Cas?"

"He needed a ride to the church." Dean shrugged nonchalantly. "What about the case?"

"There's a nest a few hundred miles from here. Been attacking the town for a few weeks now, most likely gaining numbers." Sam told him.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's stock up on some dead man's blood and head out."

Maria's head swam. "Dead man's blood?"

"It incapacitates them long enough for us to cut their heads off." Sam explained.

"How does one go about obtaining dead man's blood?" Maria asked cautiously.

"Funeral homes mostly." Dean said, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

"Of course."

"I told you, there's a lot of stuff that you don't know yet. I know you've studied the subject but there are texts out there, thousands of years old, with only one or two copies left of them, that are in this library. Some the Men of Letters have collected and others we've taken from our surrogate father. There are myths in there; ways to kill creatures that you've never even imagined existed."

Maria barely kept from shaking in excitement. She loved learning and the fact that the bunker held books that not many people have had the privilege of looking at, let alone reading, gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Sam raised his eyebrows at her when he saw her blinding grin. Her palms were itching to grab a tome and read it. But she promised to finish the Supernatural books first.

"Okay, I'll stay here without any fuss." She told him. "I'll have plenty of reading material to hold me over until you return. And I'll have Kevin for company."

Sam was surprised that there wasn't a bigger fight. "Okay. We'll leave in the morning." He directed at Dean.

Dean agreed from his perch on the counter, nursing his glass, his mind otherwise occupied.

Maria shared a look with Sam, and he shook his head, as if to tell her to leave it be. Maria however, wasn't exactly good at following orders.

She walked over and pulled herself up on the counter next to him. She nudged his shoulder. "Penny for your thoughts, Winchester?"

He scoffed. "Why, do I look like I need a chick-flick moment?"

Maria heard the defensive tone to his words and stifled her laugh. Dean was trying hard to thwart her attempts at making him open up. She had a feeling she knew what was bothering him (having dealt with a similar situation with her friend Joey) but knew that pushing would be more harm than good, especially with his brother in the room.

She patted his knee. "Well, I'm a good listener if you need it. And I promise I give great advice."

"How modest of you," Dean threw.

"I only speak the truth, Dean." She kissed his cheek and hopped down. "I'm going to get the next book. I'll be back." She told the brothers before heading off to find Kevin.

Dean had a small smile on his face as he finished his drink. "She's pretty great."

"Yeah, she is." Sam agreed.

Dean shook his head. "Okay tell me more about the case."

Maria knocked on Kevin's door and heard a muffled voice granting her entry. She opened the door to Kevin lying face down, spread eagle on the floor.

"Kevin? Are you okay?"

He lifted his head slightly to look at her. "I'm fine. Just frustrated."

She had no idea what lying on the floor would do to combat frustration but she didn't press the issue. "Do you think Charlie would mind if I got the next book?"

Kevin sat up and snorted. "No way. Charlie would be ecstatic that someone else was reading them, if only to torture Sam and Dean."

"Do they really hate the books that much?"

"They don't like that people know so much about their lives, even if they think it's fake." Kevin explained. "I can't wait to tell Charlie you're reading them."

"Does Charlie know about me staying here?" Maria asked cautiously. She didn't know Charlie's relationship with Sam and Dean and didn't want to step on any toes.

"Not yet, but there is a renaissance fair soon so I'm sure you'll be able to meet…"

"Hey Kevin, we're headed out on a case tomorrow. We want to fill you in." Sam stuck his head in the room, interrupting their conversation. Kevin stood before Maria could ask him what he meant about the renaissance fair and the connection to Charlie.

Kevin turned back to Maria before they followed Sam from the room. "Come on, I'll get the books."

He showed her which room was Charlie's and led her in. The room was fairly plain, as if the occupant didn't have much time to decorate it. There was a rather extensive bookshelf besides the made bed that housed a great number of books. Maria saw the Harry Potter series and her respect for Charlie rose just a bit more. She really couldn't wait to meet him.

Kevin pulled the next few books of the series from the shelf. "They're pretty quick reads, so here's the next three. When you're done, you can just come back in here and grab the next ones."

"Thank you, Kevin." Maria smiled warmly at him. "I'll be in my room if anyone asks for me."

They pulled Charlie's door shut and headed off to their respective destinations.

Later that night, Sam knocked tentatively at Maria's door. When he got no answer, he entered the room cautiously, only to find her sleeping peacefully, a book lying open next to her.

He looked down on her with a small smile before placing a small kiss to her temple. He was about to turn off the light and let her sleep before he heard her whisper his name.

Her eyes were barely open but a sad smile played at her lips. "Sam, lay down with me."

He stripped down to a t-shirt and boxers before sliding behind her into bed. She snuggled into him as he wrapped his arms around her waist, placing a kiss on the back of her neck.

She placed her hand over his and sighed in contentment before falling back into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Maria woke up with something hard under her head. She opened her eyes and realized that she was laying on Sam's chest, her head falling and rising in time to his breathing. She felt well rested; which was something that had been not-so-mysteriously missing since she found out that Amber was a werewolf.

She snuggled deeper into his side and felt his fingers trail lines down her back. "Good Morning," he said.

"Good morning. How long have you been awake?" She asked him, sending him a sweet smile.

"Not long. But you looked so peaceful and I didn't want to disturb you." He played with strands of her hair.

"Thank you for sleeping in here with me." Maria said. "I didn't want to be alone."

"You don't have to be. I promise I'll call you every night while we're on the case." Sam assured her.

"I'm more worried about your safety than my sanity." Maria scolded gently, sitting up.

"You don't have to worry about me. Dean and I have been hunting for our entire lives. We're professionals. A nest is easy. We just have to find it and attack it in the daylight."

"Doesn't make me worry less." She said stubbornly, as she snuggled back down.

Sam chuckled lightly. "No, I guess it won't."

There was a knock on the door and Dean called out from the other side. "Sammy, we're headed out in 30. Shake a leg."

"How did he know I was in here?" Sam asked, mostly to himself.

Maria rolled her eyes but didn't comment on the obvious situation. She placed a kiss on his lips and stood from the bed. "Go get dressed. I'll go make pancakes." She pulled a sweater on over her camisole and padded out of the room.

When she got into the kitchen, Dean was already seated at the bar, drinking coffee and consulting an open map in front of him.

"Good Morning, Dean."

He looked up, startled to see her. "Can you do me a favor and make some noise when you enter a room?"

"Noted." She said sarcastically before getting the ingredients for pancakes and placing them on the counter. It didn't take her too long to mix and cook them, and the next time Dean looked up from the map, it was to see a large steaming plate of them placed in front of him.

He smiled at her sheepishly. "Thanks, Maria."

She nodded slightly with a smile and prepared three more plates for the other inhabitants.

By the time Sam walked in, Dean had finished eating and Kevin and Cas were scarfing their own pancakes down.

"What took you so long, princess? Was it your hair?" Dean asked mockingly.

Sam threw a punch to his arm and muttered, "Jerk".

"Bitch."

Sam ate quickly and soon they were all in the garage saying goodbye.

It had been decided the night before that Castiel was to accompany them. Maria said goodbye to him first. She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. "Take care of these two idiots for me please."

A hint of a smile graced his face. "I will do my best."

She hugged Dean next, and exchanged a glance of an unspoken promise: keep Sam safe.

Lastly, she wrapped her arms around Sam's neck and hugged him close. "Please be safe," she whispered in his ear before pulling away. "And don't forget to call me." She said with a raised finger. He smiled at her before bringing her close for a heated kiss.

Dean cleared his throat and the pair was forced to tear away. She placed another chaste kiss to his lips before moving to stand next to Kevin.

"Don't worry, Sam. I'll keep her safe." Kevin told him.

Dean let out a park of laughter. "Don't let him anywhere near your bow!"

Maria placed an arm around Kevin's shoulder protectively. "I'm sure he's a better shot than you!"

They could hear Dean's laughter even as the car rolled out of the garage.

Maria nudged Kevin before heading back into the living area. "Come on, Kev. It's just me and you for a week."


	4. Family

Sam made good on his promise to call Maria every night. It was the third day since they left and he was telling her how they planned on storming the nest the next morning.

"It actually wasn't as difficult as we thought it'd be. " Sam told her. "The police were useless, as usual, but…"

"Sam, wait." Maria was instantly on guard. She heard a noise coming from the kitchen. She knew that Kevin had locked himself in his room to study the Angel Tablet and they had both already eaten dinner.

"Maria, what's wrong?" Sam asked and she could hear the panic in his voice.

"I heard a noise. And I'm fairly positive it wasn't Kevin." She told him. She picked up the knife that she had taken to hide in her room and approached the door.

"Maria, don't you dare go investigate. Dean and I can be there in a few hours. Lock yourself in your room and we'll call Kevin to do the same." She heard the keys jingle in the background.

"Don't be ridiculous, Sam." Maria said. "I'm going to check it out."

"Maria, I swear to god…"

"Keep quiet, Sam or I'm hanging up on you." He reluctantly agreed and she headed out into the hallway, knife posed to strike. She entered the kitchen silently, and saw that there was a person looking into the open refrigerator. The door was blocking the intruder's face, but Maria could tell by the curves of the body that it was a female.

She approached stealthy and when she was at a close, but safe distance, she cleared her throat loudly.

The intruder slammed the door shut, screamed in a high pitch voice, and lost her balance, falling backwards on the cold tile floor.

"Who are you?" Maria asked firmly.

"I live here! Who the hell are you?" The red head asked from the floor, eyeing the knife uneasily.

"What do you mean you live here?" Maria hesitated for a moment but didn't drop the weapon.

"I mean exactly that!" She screeched. Maria heard a sigh of relief coming from the phone.

"Maria, relax. That's just Charlie."

"Charlie?" Maria was officially confused. "But she's a woman!"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Last time I checked, yeah."

Maria placed the knife on the counter, and Charlie, no longer having felt threatened, rose to her feet.

"I don't understand what's happening." Maria said quietly. She could hear Dean's laughter and Castiel's scolding in the background.

"Charlie is a girl. I'm sorry, I thought you knew." Sam said, gently.

Maria looked back onto every conversation she's had about Charlie and couldn't recall any time that a personal pronoun was used.

"I just assumed, with the name…"

"Is that Sam?" Charlie asked her.

Maria only nodded, embarrassed, before handing the phone to Charlie.

"Hey Sam, thanks for the memo." She told him sarcastically. Maria couldn't hear Sam's responses but they must have been about her because Charlie kept shooting glances her way. "Okay, see you when you get home." She handed the phone back to Maria.

"Hello?"

"I'll call you tomorrow morning, okay? It'll give you a chance to get to know Charlie. Sorry she scared you." He told her.

"It's okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Sam. Goodnight." She hung up the phone and looked at Charlie, who had hopped up onto the counter.

She held her hand out. "Hi, my name is Charlie. I am indeed a woman." She finished with a grin.

"Hi Charlie, I'm Maria. I've heard a lot about you, except of course, your gender."

"I'm sorry I scared you." Charlie told her. "I wanted to surprise everyone in the morning."

"It's okay. Sorry I held a knife on you. I'm so embarrassed." Maria apologized. They heard footsteps running towards them and Maria grabbed her knife before whipping her body around to face the new threat.

"What's going… why are you holding a knife?" Kevin appeared in the kitchen and put his hands up in defense. Maria put the knife down in a huff, already having enough with the night's events.

"Charlie!" He rushed past Maria and hugged his friend. "When did you get here?"

"I just got here, with a hell of a welcoming party." She joked. Kevin glanced at Maria and the knife and added up the pieces.

"Charlie, you know you can't sneak up on a bunker full of hunters with access to plenty of weapons."

"The plan was to go to my room and surprise you all in the morning, in daylight." Charlie said.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I'm going back into my room." And he left the kitchen.

"I think I'm going to go to bed too." Charlie said. "We'll talk in the morning, Maria."

"I look forward to it." She smiled and the two walked back to their rooms in silence. "Oh Charlie," Maria called out before Charlie entered her room. "I have a few of your Supernatural books that I'm reading. Is that okay?"

The grin nearly blinded her. "Of course! Do the boys know?"

"They told me to read them. Said it would be easier than explaining everything."

Charlie laughed. "Oh they will never live this down. Goodnight!"

"Night." Maria walked into her room and closed the door with a click. She placed the knife back under her bed and sat down. She felt completely drained of energy and only wanted to sleep. She hadn't slept as well as since she was with Sam and hated that she was so dependent on his presence to get a good night's sleep.

They had literally known each other for a week and she couldn't sleep without him next to her.

Maria had never been one to believe in love at first sight. Although she was a romantic at heart, she was also practical, and knew that the strength of her feelings for Sam weren't exactly normal.

Her head hurt to even think about it, so she curled up under her comforter and turned off the bedside lamp before falling into a restless sleep.

The next morning, Maria was making eggs when her phone rang.

"Good morning, Sam." Maria said cheerily.

"Good morning. You sound happy this morning." She could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm just happy to hear from you is all. Even if I'm extremely worried."

"Don't be. The nest isn't as big as we thought it was. It shouldn't be an issue." Sam reassured her.

"Sam, you can assure me all you want…"

"…It won't make you worry less. Yes, I know." Sam sighed. "So have you and Charlie had a chance to talk yet?"

"No not really. We went to bed almost right after the incident. And she's still asleep now."

"You probably won't see her for a while. She likes to sleep in. Anyway, babe, we're about to head out. I'll call you when we're on our way home."

"Be careful." She said again, before hanging up. She settled in at the bar with her coffee, eggs and the last Supernatural book. Kevin was right, they were rather quick reads. She understood more of what Sam and Dean went through their entire lives and she was quite hesitant on joining the hunt. As much as she wanted to help people, she didn't think she'd be able to do what these boys have done.

And she wasn't exactly sure how to tell Sam.

She knew he'd be happy, because it would mean she wouldn't be in harm's way. But on the other hand, she wondered if he'd feel like they wouldn't have that connection anymore, and would ask her to leave. She knew it was probably irrational, but the seed of doubt had been planted and there was no digging it back up.

She still wanted to learn everything she could and even help them when they go on hunts, but as far as killing the creatures, there was a line of comfortableness that she wasn't too keen on crossing.

Besides the fact that she was already so worried about Sam, and she didn't want him to have to experience the same thing. At least if she was behind the scenes, doing the research, then she could give them the best information available to get the job done.

But what if she was making a hasty decision? She hasn't actually been on a hunt yet (save for Amber) and doesn't exactly know everything that it entails…Who was she kidding? She was a very emotionally compromised person. She knew exactly what would happen, and she'd be devastated for days, probably living in the weapons range with her bow.

That's why being a cop never worked out. Outside, she had a tough exterior, and confrontation did not scare her. She was Italian, for god's sake. So sure, she could do the simple arrests, break up the fights, seize the drugs, but it only took a domestic abuse case before she handed over her badge and gun to her then husband.

No, she knew that being a hunter was not for her. The fact that she thought she could, showed how badly Amber's death had affected her. She chastised herself for wasting the men's time and briefly contemplating just leaving, but she knew that it wouldn't solve anything. She didn't want to leave. She felt more at home here than she's ever felt since her parents died.

Before her thoughts could take a more disturbing turn, Charlie walked into the kitchen in an oversized t-shirt. Maria felt a pang of jealousy, and squashed it down immediately. Just because Charlie was a woman did not mean that either of the guys has been with her (besides the fact that Charlie has been in their lives far longer than she has and Maria has no type of claim on either of them).

"Good Morning," She said, effectively concealing the inner turmoil.

"Morning. It smells delicious in here!" Charlie sat down on the stool next to her.

"I made eggs. Would you like some?"

"Please. Thank god you can cook. The only one around here with any type of cooking talent is Dean." Charlie said as Maria got to work on her breakfast.

"Well, I've been cooking for most of my life. My grandfather was a chef, and my mother was a great cook." Maria explained. "Besides, eggs aren't too difficult. I can always teach you."

"I'd rather be lazy and have it made for me if it's all the same to you." Charlie said with a grin. "But really, I'm dying to know how you got the boys wrapped around your finger so quickly."

Maria glanced at her and saw no hint of malice in her face or tone, and chalked the brash question up to Charlie's type of personality.

"I saved their asses from a werewolf." Maria told her.

"That's awesome!" Charlie exclaimed. "Isn't it fun to wipe the floor with their egos? The last time I was home, I saved them too, from the Wicked Witch."

Maria raised her eyebrow, not exactly sure how to tackle that particular subject.

Charlie laughed at her expression. "Really, it was the wicked witch from Oz, you know Dorothy, flying monkeys, the whole nine."

"So that's all real?"

Charlie nodded. "You'll learn quickly not to be surprised by things."

"So did you all meet Dorothy, then?" Maria asked, genuinely curious as she placed the eggs in front of the red-head.

A hint of a blush graced Charlie's cheeks. "Yeah, we did."

"Okay, spill." Maria urged. "I can feel the heat of your cheeks from here."

"Well, that's where I've been, in Oz, with Dorothy… my girlfriend."

The green monster slept peacefully in her chest.

"Hold on, Dorothy is your girlfriend? And you've been living in Oz?" Maria's head swam. "I really do have to stop being surprised by things."

Charlie nodded with a chuckle. "These eggs are delicious by the way. Okay so we were talking about you. Sam mentioned that he cared a lot about you and told me not to scare you away."

"He did?" Maria hid her grin behind her hand.

"Yep. I always found Sam harder to crack than Dean. But that could just be because Dean and I are exactly alike and I know what he's feeling before he even knows, but I digress. How does it feel to be the only one besides Dean to get inside his head?"

Maria quickly processed that information. Sam didn't particularly seem like he wasn't forthcoming with any information but then again, they haven't exactly discussed much about themselves in their short time together.

"I don't really know. We haven't had much time to talk." Maria said honestly.

"You're still the first girl he's brought home to meet the rest of the family." Charlie pointed out.

"I sort of blackmailed them into taking me with them to become a hunter." Maria blushed.

Charlie floundered. "Those jerks! When I told them I was hunting, Dean's head nearly exploded! That right there proves how much Sam likes you. They hate when people decide to be hunters."

"Well, after reading the books, they'll be happy to know that I no longer want to be a hunter." Maria told her.

"They will be so happy." Charlie told her. "Sam especially."

"I hope so. I don't want to have to leave." Maria said.

"You don't have to worry about that. Once you're in, you're here to stay. Speaking of which, where's Kevin?"

Maria looked at the clock and it was well past the usual time that he was usually up. "I'm not sure. I'm going to see what's taking him so long."

She walked back towards his room and knocked quietly. She heard a grunt in response and opened the door to reveal Kevin, sitting hunched at his desk with his hands clutching his head and looking down at the tablet in despair.

"Kevin, are you okay?"

He turned his head towards her and she saw his bloodshot eyes. "Have you been up all night?" She asked, mortified.

"Dean hates to see Cas like this. He wants me to find a solution." Kevin said in a raspy voice.

Maria felt a well of anger build up in her chest. Dean will be hearing exactly what she thought about the situation. She helped him stand, despite his pathetic attempts to protest, and led him to his bed.

"Sleep, Kevin. I'm making an executive decision and you are taking the day off. I'll bring you in some tea and breakfast but otherwise, you are sleeping today."

Kevin gave her a small smile and was out like a light the second his head hit the pillow.

She walked back into the kitchen and Charlie must have seen the stony expression of her face because she jumped up in alarm. "What happened?"

"He was up all night reading the goddamn tablet because 'Dean hates to see Cas like this'. I am going to kill him." Maria ranted. Charlie narrowed her eyes and nodded in agreement.

Maria made him tea and a breakfast sandwich, all the while stewing angrily. She went back into Kevin's room and placed them on his nightstand. She sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook him awake.

"Kevin, honey, you need to eat something." Her motherly instincts were kicking in. Kevin smiled gratefully in his sleep-induced haze and took a few bites of his sandwich. He sipped the tea and whispered a thank you before falling back asleep. Maria resisted the urge to kiss his forehead. He looked so young and helpless and all she wanted to do was wrap him up in her arms and keep him safe.

Charlie was not in the kitchen when she got back but noticed that she had cleaned it before leaving.

Maria decided to let off some steam and go shoot. She changed into jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt before putting her long hair into a pony tail. She left her bedroom and headed downstairs.

She opened her case and took out her bow, once again treading her fingers over the smooth familiar surface.

She was shooting for almost an hour and she almost missed the muffled ringing of her phone. She wrestled it out of her pocket and answered it. "Sam?"

"The one and only,"

"Are you hurt at all?" Maria asked worriedly.

"Couple of scratches here and there. We'd managed to kill most of them before a few woke up. It got a little rough after that but we're all okay. We should be back tonight." Sam told her.

"Good, now let me speak to that weasel of a brother of yours."

"O-kay," Sam said, and she could hear the confusion in his voice. Now that she was assured they were all safe, she was going to give Dean a piece of her mind.

"Hello?"

"Dean Winchester, you have got some nerve!"

"Maria, what are you…"

"That poor boy has been up all night because of you! I walked in and he could barely keep his head up because you need a solution to get Castiel his wings back. Well guess what, Dean?" Her voice rose. "He's still a kid! Prophet or not! It's bad enough that he can't be a kid; the least you could let him do is sleep! I know you want to help Cas, but that shouldn't come at the cost of Kevin!"

There was complete and utter silence on the other end.

Finally, Dean spoke. "I…you're right. I'm sorry."

She could hear Sam sputtering in the background.

"I'm not the one that needs to be accepting your apology. But I appreciate it nonetheless."

The sputtering got louder and Maria knew that he passed the phone back to Sam. "I…how…what…"

Maria grinned in triumph. "No need to question my methods, Sam."

"I'm just… speechless. I'm just speechless."

"I'll see you tonight, love. I can't wait." She told him before hanging up.

Kevin woke up a few hours later, looking exceptionally better than before. Charlie and Maria were eating lunch when he padded into the kitchen.

Charlie ruffled his hair. "How you doing?"

"Better, thanks." Kevin replied. Maria scooped some pasta onto a plate and gave it to him.

"I took care of Dean." Maria said and Kevin looked horrified. "Don't worry, he knows he was wrong and if he doesn't apologize to you tonight, I'll be sure he is well acquainted with my arrows."

"Can you stay forever?" Kevin asked.

She patted his hand gently. "I'll do my best."

The three of them planned on what to make the guys when they arrived home for dinner. They decided unanimously on burgers, fries, and salad (mostly for Sam of course). They piled into Maria's truck and drove a few miles to the store, where they go the ingredients for dinner.

Maria raised a questioning eyebrow when Kevin placed an apple pie in the cart.

"It's for Dean. He can't be mad for very long if he has pie in front of him." Kevin explained.

"Kevin, I told you, there is no reason for Dean to be mad. Besides, I can make a better pie than that pre-made crap." Maria then proceeded to get the ingredients for her grandfather's homemade apple pie recipe.

The guys were expected to arrive within the next two hours so Charlie and Maria got to work on dinner and dessert while Kevin sat with his laptop in front of him, commenting here and there on the smell, or how Sam doesn't deserve Maria.

"Remember when I asked how you had these guys wrapped around your finger?" Charlie asked suddenly and Maria nodded, putting the pie in the oven. "Well, I figured it out. You're kind of the mother hen of the group. You want to take care of everyone and won't take crap from any of them. They feel safe around you. I know that I do. Dean's the oldest, but I think you're the wisest."

Maria was caught completely off guard with the description. "Wow, Charlie. I'm so happy you feel that way. I feel so comfortable here, more so than I've felt in years."

Charlie bumped her hip into Maria's. "Just make sure you stay. We all like you more than Sam anyway."

"Hey! I resent that!" Maria whipped around and saw Sam, Dean, and Castiel walking into the kitchen. She launched herself into Sam's arms and hugged him, peppering his face with kisses.

Dean remained uncharacteristically silent and Maria let go of Sam to walk up to him. She smiled warmly at him, to let him know that she wasn't _that_ mad at him, and hugged him.

"It smells delicious in here." Castiel commented after Charlie hugged him.

"Burgers, fries and apple pie," Charlie rhymed.

"Pie?" Dean asked hopefully.

"That would be Kevin's idea." Maria said pointedly.

"Maria made it though… from scratch." Kevin said.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Listen Kev, I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have been so hard on you. Your health is important too."

"It's alright, Dean. We all want to find an answer." Kevin told him.

"But it's not really alright. I shouldn't put one member of this family above another member. So I'll check myself, but if I do it again, don't hesitate to punch me, okay?" Dean told him and Kevin laughed.

"Dinner should be ready any minute," Maria said with a smile on her face. She had her arms wrapped around Sam's waist and he pulled her close to his body.

"So, this apple pie's a family recipe?" Dean asked her.

"It is."

"I don't know if that was a good idea." Sam told her. "He will never stop pestering you for it if he loves it enough."

"It's pie," Dean scoffed. "I'm sure I'll love it."

"Well the pie won't be ready for some time yet. But if you want to start making your burgers, the fries should be done soon. And there's some salad as well."

Dean crinkled his nose. "Rabbit food…that's Sam's department." He was the first in line to grab a burger.

Sam placed a kiss at the top of her head. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." They watched as Dean and Charlie argued about the uses of mustard.

"The family's all here." Sam said blithely. "You sure you want to be a part of this crazy place?"

"I couldn't imagine not being a part of it." She answered honestly.

"Dean and I are taking a couple of days off." He told her. "Charlie's renaissance fair is the day after tomorrow and she's the queen. Dean's a closet nerd and loves larping. So we'll probably go to that. But otherwise, we'll have time to be together. Maybe get to know each other a little better."

"I'd like that. There are a few things I need to tell you." Her nervousness spiked.

Sam must have sensed this because he kissed her gently and said, "We'll talk later."

After dinner, Maria served up the apple pie and from the look on Dean's face, she had a feeling she made her grandfather proud.

"Damn, I think I just died and went to heaven." He said. "Cas, I swear this was the solution all along. This pie's so good it's sure to give your grace back."

Maria rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"He's right, babe. This is the best pie I've ever eaten." Sam said, his eyes closed.

"Well, you lot are easy to please." She looked around at the faces of pleasure and sighed. She'd never been a sweets person so while they ate, she cleaned the rest of the kitchen.

Maria tugged on Sam's hand when he was done. She was anxious to tell him her decision, and didn't want to waste anymore of either of their time if he wanted her gone.

They went into her bedroom and she sat next to him on the bed. She wrung her hands nervously in her lap and he grabbed one, stilling them.

"Maria, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to be a hunter." She blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Wait, what?" His eyes were wide.

She took a deep breath and steadied her voice. "I finished reading the books and I don't think I could do through what you and your brother do. I don't mind confrontation, which is why I joined the force. But on my first domestic case, the wife and son were badly beat, and I resigned that same day. I am a very emotional person, and I know I wouldn't feel comfortable killing anything, monster or otherwise. I still can't get past the overwhelming grief of having to kill Amber."

"So you don't want to stay?" Sam asked quietly.

"Oh god no, Sam. I don't want to leave!"

"Thank god." He pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so happy you don't want to be a hunter."

"You are?" She asked incredulously. "I thought you were going to ask me to leave."

He pulled back. "Why the hell would I do that?"

She looked at him sheepishly. "Because that was the reason I'm here in the first place."

"No, the reason you're here in the first place is because I wanted you here. And now that you don't want to hunt, I can keep you safe. That's all I care about." Sam told her.

She smiled at him and placed a kiss on his lips. "I'm so happy to hear that. I still want to help. Even though I can't kill these things, doesn't mean I'm a delicate flower. I can still take plenty care of myself. I can go on hunts with you and do the research. I want to make sure you're kept safe with the best information I can gather."

"We'll make a great team. I can't believe you thought I would make you leave. I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about you so quickly, but the fact of the matter is that I do, and I'm not willing to let you go anytime soon." Maria felt her heart swell with love. "I want to tell Dean that we have a reason not to hate the books!" And before she could as much as move, he bounded out of the room.

She followed him curiously, and she could barely contain the laughter as she saw six-foot-four Sam, bouncing on the balls of his feet in front of a warily looking Dean sitting on the couch.

"I have a solution, Dean! Make them read the books!" He exclaimed.

"How is that going to put the angels back? It'd probably just piss them…"

"Not the angels, moron. People who want to become hunters!" Sam told him.

"I don't get…"

"He's talking about me." Maria interrupted, seeing Sam on the edge of frustration. "I've decided not to be a hunter and sit back on the research side of things."

Dean stood from the couch. "So the books did it for you? We can keep you safe now because of the books? Well I wish that shit worked on you." He shot at Charlie, who just grinned in response.

"We?"

"Of course it's we. You're still family. So you may be shacking up with Sam, but family protects each other." Dean told her seriously. "And from the looks of it, you've been plenty taking care of all of us." He patted his full stomach.

"Well, maybe I'll have to start being a little healthier with what I'm cooking. We don't want you to get any fatter." Maria teased and Dean looked like a kicked puppy.

"I don't think you look fat, Dean." Cas told him and Dean slung an arm around his shoulders.

"See, this is how you treat your family!" He told Maria.

Everyone shared a knowing look, oblivious to the hunter and his angel.

"Kevin, why are you so quiet over there?" Sam asked.

The prophet's head shot up from behind his laptop. His cheeks were flushed in embarrassment. "I'm just, um… writing…fanfiction."

A fight ensued, where Sam and Dean tried to overpower the prophet for his laptop, who had managed to lock it just in time. This broke out another fight, which involved begging Charlie to use her hacking skills to break in.

Maria sat next to Castiel on the couch, and linked her arm through his.

"What have we gotten ourselves into, Castiel?"

He merely shook his head, smiling contentedly, and the pair watched the never ending chaos that was their family. This was home, for in the words of Bobby, "Family doesn't end with blood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the Epilogue left


	5. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the rating comes in. I placed the scene at the end so you can still read the chapter, but can stop before it gets too graphic for you.

"I look ridiculous." Sam whined.

Maria shot him a look from across the tent, where she was getting ready. "We are all going to look ridiculous. But we are here for Charlie, not your self-esteem."

"Easy for you to say. You look hot."

"Who knew you had a thing for elves?" She asked teasingly as she put the finishing touches on her makeup. She wore tight brown pants, and a green tunic that was tight enough to show off her curves. She bent down to pull up her knee-high boots and strapped her bow to her back. "Besides, it was Charlie's idea. I'm not even sure elves are supposed to be here, but I'm a visiting queen, here to help fight."

Sam's chainmail rattled as he approached her. He grabbed her hips and ground into her. "Are you sure we have to go out there?"

She rolled her eyes but placed a kiss to his lips. "Yes, Sam, we do. We're already late. And it took me too long to get this damn thing on. You are not taking it off…until tonight that is." And with that, she left her boyfriend standing in the tent, with a painfully hard problem.

"I can't believe this is how we're spending our anniversary." He muttered as he adjusted himself and followed her out. He saw her talking to Charlie outside of her tent and walked up to them.

"Good Morning, Sir Samuel." She said regally.

He bowed, "Your majesty."

"May I introduce the Queen of the Woodland Elves, Lady Maria?"

"Pleasure, your highness," He took her hand and kissed it, with a wink. "I am Sir Samuel, Knight of Moondoor."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Samuel." Maria said proud of herself for not giggling.

"Oh come on! They're not even trying!" Charlie said, exasperated. They both turned to look in the same direction. Sam grimaced and Maria couldn't stop the giggle this time. Dean and Castiel were locked in an passionate embrace.

"He looks like he's trying to eat his face." Sam said with a shudder. No matter how many times in the past ten months he's seen his brother and his boyfriend kiss, he wouldn't get used to it. It must be how Dean feels with him and Maria.

"Stop it, Sam." Maria admonished. "They're cute."

"Oi!" Charlie yelled at the couple. "Can my knights stop sucking face for two minutes to get some work done?"

Maria could see Castiel's blush from here but Dean just smiled defiantly and placed one more kiss to his boyfriend's lips before dragging him to the group.

While the brothers argued about public displays of affection, Maria looped her arm through Castiel's. The two had gotten rather close in a year and many times teamed together to direct their hard-headed boyfriends.

They still hadn't found anything to reverse Metatron's spell, but they haven't had issues with any angels in a while. It was unsettling but at the same time, they welcomed the moment of peace.

In the year, Maria has helped with every case they've been on. Sometimes, when it was going to be a long trip, she went with them. But most times, she stayed home and helped over phone while keeping Kevin company. Charlie had gone back to Oz shortly after the fair but occasionally dropped by with Dorothy to visit.

Castiel finally wore Dean's resolve about his feelings for the other and the two got together two months after Maria met them. She remembered the day Castiel came to her seek advice.

_Maria was sitting at the table in the bunker, doing some research for the case the boys were currently on, when Castiel entered the room and sat opposite of her._

_"I require some advice." He began. She looked up from the laptop and noticed the desperation in his eyes._

_"Of course, Castiel. What's wrong?"_

_He frowned and looked down at his hands. "I fear… I fear that I have grown feelings for Dean."_

_"Cas, there is no need to fear that! You should be happy!" Maria grabbed his hand._

_"I fear it because I do not believe Dean feels the same way. He is uncomfortable with the idea of loving another man." Castiel said sadly._

_Maria squeezed his hand. "I don't think that's the case at all, Cas. His whole life he has been the 'ladies' man, Dean Winchester'. I don't think he's uncomfortable with the idea of loving a man. I think he's uncomfortable with how strongly he feels for you and how easy it is. He's battling with himself right now, Castiel. It has nothing to do with you."_

_"So you think he has feelings for me?" He asked hopefully._

_"A blind man could see it." She told him honestly. "You need to talk to him, let him know how you feel and that you will wait for as long as he needs to sort himself out."_

_"Will that work?"_

_"It'll show him that you understand he's going through something and that you're willing to be there for him." Maria said. "Everyone sees how much you two care for each other. It's just time for Dean to realize that no one is going to ostracize him for how he feels or who he feels it for."_

_Castiel stood and gave her a hug. "Thank you."_

It wasn't long after that conversation that Dean and Castiel came to breakfast holding hands, and besides the grins all around, no one mentioned it.

Maria and Sam continued to get to know each other, and had even taken a trip back to Mathews to visit Joey and her parents' graves. Luckily, they managed to avoid her ex-husband their entire trip.

Maria was brought back to present day when Kevin walked up with Dorothy, the two chatting animatedly about the attack plan of the orcs on the other side of the field.

"The orcs are preparing for battle, my queen." Kevin said with a slight bow.

Charlie sent a pointed look to the brothers and they immediately stopped fighting. "Thank you, young page. My lady," She held out her hand for Dorothy to stand at her side. "Sir Dean, please gather the army. I wish to speak to them." Dean bowed, winked at Cas, and ran off towards the army.

"Castiel, as Court Sorcerer, I want you to gather as many hex bags as you can manage for the upcoming battle." Castiel nodded and headed off in the opposite direction.

Maria was getting increasingly excited. Last year, she was a maidservant to Queen Charlie, and while she had a blast, she only had her 'sword' to protect her. This year, as a visiting queen, she was able to use her bow and the soft tipped arrows in the battle.

Needless to say, an hour later, the orcs never stood a chance and Queen Charlie once more reigned victorious over Moondoor.

"A feast is to be hosted in celebration of this momentous occasion!" She shouted to her troops. "Once more, the Kingdom of Moondoor is safe to live another year!"

At the feast, the three couples watch fondly as Kevin and a orc girl talk.

"Our little boy is growing up." Dean said, facetiously.

"Leave him alone," Dorothy said.

"It's about time he gets to communicate with someone other than us." Sam said. "Poor kid."

"He's not really a kid anymore." Maria told her friends. "He'll be turning 21 next month."

It was at that moment, when Kevin and the girl looked over at the group. Kevin shot them the dirtiest glare, and all the couples could do was plaster smiles on their faces and wave, some more enthusiastically than others (Sam, Dean and Charlie). Kevin hit his forehead to the table in embarrassment but the girl had a smile on her face.

They talked for a few more minutes before the girl placed a kiss on his cheek and walked away. Kevin approached his family with a look of disdain.

"Can you lot be any less embarrassing?" He asked, sitting down next to Maria.

"Probably not," Maria told him, patting his hand. "You have to take what you can get. You know it could probably be worse."

He groaned.

"So, what's her name?" Charlie asked him.

He stood. "Nope, not doing this with you all. You'll scare her away. I know how your sick and twisted minds work."

"Sit down, Kev. We're only teasing." Sam said and Kevin reluctantly sat

A group of squires approached the queen and company.

"Your majesty," The queen nodded at them to proceed with a knowing smirk. Maria has learned to always be cautious about that smirk. The group turned to face Sam and Maria.

Charlie stood. "Citizens of Moondoor, not only did we win a glorious battle today, but we are also celebrating the anniversary of two dear friends of mine. Lady Maria and Sir Sam, will you rise?"

Both rose cautiously, linking their hands together. By the looks on their friends' faces, this was no surprise.

"Sam, Maria, I'm sorry you had to spend your anniversary fighting orcs." She said as the squires separated to reveal a large sheet cake. The cake was a light blue, with small figurines of bows, arrows, guns and knives which made the pair chuckle. In the center, was a large blown out picture of the couple that neither of them remember being taken. They were curled up together on the couch in front of the fireplace, both gazing at the other with a look of pure love.

The cake was placed in front of them and Sam pulled Maria to his side, kissing the top of her head. Maria had tears streaming down her face and looked at each of her friends with a smile of gratitude and love.

"This is too much." She told them. "Thank you. We couldn't have imagined a better day. We got to spend it with our family."

"I get Sam's face!" Dean shouted, effectively breaking the tender moment in which he was becoming more and more uncomfortable. Castiel simply shook his head and sent an apologetic look to Sam and Maria.

After the cake was completely devoured by the camp, the group sat together on logs by the fire that was made in the center of their circle of tents.

Charlie sat on the ground in front of Dorothy, who was lovingly running her fingers through her hair. Dean and Cas sat side by side, holding hands. Maria sat in Sam's lap and Kevin was unsurprisingly missing.

As the night wore on, and the group chatted and laughed, Sam began to get impatient. He nipped at Maria's ears and placed kisses along her neck and jaw line.

When she felt something hard press into her ass, she finally stood. "Well, I'm going to see if I can actually get out of this outfit. I'll see you all tomorrow." She held her hand out to Sam, who murmured a quick "Night" to the group before allowing his girlfriend to lead them into their tent.

Once inside, he pressed up against her and leaned down to kiss her. He easily won dominance over the kiss and bit her lip gently. His hands were on her hips and thrust forward. She felt his hardness on her belly and moaned in anticipation.

She was the first to pull away, breathing heavily. "Let's not complicate things here, because it's going to end with us both getting frustrated." She began taking offer her own costume and motioned for him to do the same. Sam was done in record time, his costume not containing much but chainmail, a cloak, a tunic and breeches. Maria on the other hand was struggling with her corset.

Sam walked over, clad in only his boxers and moved her hair to place a kiss on the back of her neck. He batted her hands away and untied the corset, her breasts finally freed. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned around. Sam's mouth went dry, similar to every time he's seen his beautiful girlfriend naked. She shimmied off her thong and knelt down in front of Sam.

She gazed up at him lovingly, her fingers playing with the waistband of his boxers. She slowly pulled them down and over his hard cock. She licked it from base to tip, never breaking eye contact. Her hands wrapped around the base of his cock as she swirled her tongue around the tip. Sam threw his head back and moaned. She continued to tease him like this for another minute before she said, "Happy Anniversary, baby. I love you." She took him fully in her mouth and sucked once, hard.

"Fuck," he groaned, his fingers in her hair.

She continued to suck him, occasionally flicking her tongue up to taste the precum on his tip. One hand gripped his base, where her mouth couldn't reach, and the other played absentmindedly with his balls.

"Baby," He breathed. "You better stop if you want me to last." She looked up at him and rolled her eyes, but his chuckle was caught in his throat as she gently slid her teeth down his length. "Oh, fuck!"

He felt his balls tighten and she must have as well because before he knew what was happening, she managed to take his entire length in her mouth. As soon as he hit the back of her throat, he was cumming, shooting load after load of seed down her throat, which she greedily swallowed.

She finally pulled him out with a pop, and wiped her mouth. Sam felt his knees weaken and crashed on the pile of blankets and pillows that they were calling their bed. "Christ, baby, that was…wow."

"I'm in love with a man of many words." She said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

He beckoned for her and she crawled over to him. He brought her down for a heated kiss, pulling her on top of him.

Sam quickly flipped their positions and Maria squealed in surprise. "What I am going to do to pass the time until I'm ready again to fuck you into the pillows?"

Maria had found out pretty early in their relationship that the controlled attitude Sam usually adorned, was a façade. In the bedroom, he was incredibly dirty and unpredictable.

"I'm sure you'll think of something." She told him with a grin.

"I'm sure I could do a bit of this." He placed his hand on her breast, filling it perfectly, and gently massaged it. "Or this." He pinched her nipple and she arched up into him with a moan. "Do you like that, baby?" She whimpered in response and he moved to do the other nipple with a different intent. He latched onto the nipple with his lips and pressed down. She pulled his hair, trying desperately to mold their bodies together.

His other hand slowly moved down her body, coming to rest on her inner thigh. She moaned with anticipation but Sam wasn't giving in. She tried thrusting her hips forward so that he could take the hint.

He let go of her nipple and kissed her. "Patience, baby; let me take care of you." He kissed her again, and slowly made his way down her body. He kissed her neck, and each of her breasts, before kissing her belly button. She writhed underneath of him.

As he placed a kiss on each of her hip bones, his fingers finally found their mark. He teased her lips before spreading her wide and flicking her clit with his thumb. She bucked up into his fingers, aching for more.

"Look at how wet you are, baby, and I've barely even touched you yet."

"Sam, I swear to god…" She muttered darkly. He chuckled before thrusting a finger inside of her. She stifled her moan with her hand. They were in a tent after all.

Another finger joined the first, and soon after, a third. Sam continued to whisper things in her ear and eventually, she grabbed his head to kiss him. "Samuel Winchester, if you don't shut up and put your mouth to better use, so help me god…"

Again he chuckled, and his thumb was quickly replaced by his lips. He sucked at her clit, his fingers still thrusting at a steady inside of her pussy.

Her legs wrapped around his head, pulling him even closer. All it took was a few more flicks of his tongue and she was clenching around his fingers. He licked her clean as she lay panting. His cock was once again standing at attention.

With a kiss, he buried himself completely inside of her sensitive pussy. She bit his shoulder to stifle her scream of ecstasy. His pace started out slow, but hard, as he thrust into her. Soon, that wasn't enough for either of them and Sam sat up, wrapping Maria's legs around his waist. All you could hear was their labored breathing and the smack of skin against skin. Maria was biting a pillow as Sam rocked into her.

He managed to flip them over without slipping out of her so that she was straddling him. He gripped her hips hard enough that there would be bruises in the morning and slammed her down on top of him. She quickly took over and bounced quickly on his cock. Their moans became louder, and Maria felt her second orgasm for the night building until it rocked her and she fell forward on his chest, spent. Sam continued to thrust into her, riding out her orgasm until he came deep inside of her.

The both lay together, panting. Sam's now flaccid cock slipped out of her pussy.

He gently kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too." And the two fell asleep in each other's arms.


End file.
